Here Comes Hanukkah!

By KATHY BLOOMFIELD

 

As the holiday season approaches (and this year, we light the menorah’s first candle before Shabbat on Friday, December 19, 2003), we are deluged with children's books about Hanukkah and only Hanukkah.  Why does this happen? Because people like to buy books—especially Hanukkah books—as gifts for the kids in their lives. Fortunately, as in years past, there are a number of fun and entertaining holiday titles to consider. (If you want to give wonderful children’s books that will be used all year round, consider these story collections and other children's titles we've reviewed recently.)

 

Hanukkah!
By Roni Schotter
Illustrated by Marylin Hafner
20 pages. Little, Brown and Company. $6.99
Ages 0-4.

Roni Schotter's award-winning Hanukkah classic has been adapted into this charming board-book. Perfect for the youngest child on your gift list, it conveys the warmth and joy of Hanukkah through a beautiful family celebration. We see the latkes get cooked: “Flip, flap here. Flip, flop there. Potato pancakes in the air. Latkes flying everywhere.” Meanwhile, "tucked away, Sam shapes a dreydel of clay.” The pot roast and latke meal is served and afterwards “as the Hanukkah candles / Lean head to head, / So does the family…’Ohhh!’ ‘Ahhh!’ ‘Ummm!’ ‘Yummm!’ ‘Burp!’” Before everyone falls asleep, it's time for "presents…For songs…For dances…” 

As an added feature in the board book, we are asked to find the Dreydel, Menorah, Latkes and Shamash,  turning read-aloud into a fun game for a toddler. Because all the traditions are represented—the channukiah, latkes, dreidels and gifts—this is a wonderful treat for a child’s first Hanukkah.

 

It’s a miracle!
A Hanukkah Storybook
By Stephanie Spinner
Illustrated by Jill McElmurry
44 pages. Atheneum. $16.95
Ages 5-9.

Owen Block is now the O.C.L.—the Official Candle Lighter—and he is excited. Each night he lights the next candle and celebrates the holiday with his family and friends. And each night before he falls asleep, his Grandma Karen tells him a story, right after she kicks off her cowboy boots. She tells a miraculous story of an ill woman who recovers with the help of prayers from her community, an amazing tale of an alien guided home by the lights of a menorah, a yarn about a dentist with a silly parrot, and she gives an inspiring account of a girl who dreams of becoming a rabbi. Eight stories in all, one for each night of Hanukkah. When Owen’s entire family comes to celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with him at his house, he realizes that Grandma’s stories are actually about his very own family. (Except for the one about the alien, of course—no one knows where that came from!) Wonderful illustrations accompany and enrich the text. The entire family will enjoy hearing this book read aloud around the glowing Menorah.

 

Eight Lights for Eight Nights
A Hanukkah Story and Activity Book
By Debbie Herman
Illustrated by Ann D. Koffsky
48 pages. Barron’s. $8.95.
Ages 9-12.

Did you know that “a statue of Judah Maccabee stands at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point”? Or that “each year in Israel, on the first night of Hanukkah, people run with torches from Modin to Jerusalem, following the route of the Maccabees”? Or that “In 1997, astronaut David Wolf celebrated Hanukkah in outer space. In zero gravity, his dreidel spun for an hour and a half (until it got lost)”?

These are just a few of the many “Fun Facts” you will discover while reading Eight Lights for Eight Nights. A holiday story is followed by arts and crafts projects, recipes, and songs for the entire family. My favorites are The Safety Shamash Holder, which “will provide a little more distance between your hand and the Hanukkiah flames”; The Charity Gelt Toss, which enables you to give some of your dreidel winnings to a favorite cause; and Holiday Cards decorated with spinning dreidels dipped in paint.  Directions and prayers for lighting the Menorah, instructions for the dreidel game, a Latke recipe, and several Hanukkah songs make this a very handy little book for the holiday. The illustrations by Ann Koffsky are clear and appealing.

Eight Lights for Eight Nights is unique in its educational and lively presentation of the Maccabee story and its inclusion of engaging activities for kids of all ages, as well as recipes, songs, and all the appropriate blessings in one place. It would make a wonderful gift for a family.

 

Who’ll Light the Chanukah Candles?
With 50 Prismatic Stickers!
By Dandi Daley Mackall
Illustrated by Keiko Motoyama
16 pages. Simon & Schuster. $4.99.
Ages 4-8.

Who'll Light the Chanukah Candles? is one of those books we see every year at Hanukkah time, inexpensive and fun, containing a cute and extremely simple story accompanied by charming illustrations. The story centers on a young girl’s excitement about Chanukah: “I’m running home this wintry eve—straight from school the first to leave.” Her anticipation builds as she waits for her extended family to arrive to share the holiday. Her cousin Randall shows up, gets two latkes instead of one, grabs all the gelt, and wins the dreidel game. As she watches her final chance to light the Menorah pass to Randall, he turns to her and says, “You should do it. Nothin’ to it.” And she lights the Chanukah candles. A cute story about sharing the holiday with those we love. The stickers are an added bonus.

 

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah!
A Holiday Fun Sticker Book
Illustrated by Tor Freeman
12 pages. Candlewick Press $4.99.
Ages 4-8.

Like Who'll Light the Chanukah Candles? above, there's not much to this cute little gift book—just a few words on each page illustrated by attractive drawings. Learn a traditional Hanukkah song, “Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, come light the menorah. Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the hora…” Then complete the scenes on each page with the reusable stickers. Hanukkah, Oh Hannukah would make an appropriate gift for a young child who loves stickers.